Olivia goes West

Chapter 18

"Is he asleep?"

"I think so, children."

Olivia sighed in relief, peering down from the canary cage at Sweet William, who was sitting with his chair leaning against the wall, fast asleep. It was late in the night now. Fievel and Olivia had been waiting for this chance.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry we couldn't save ya," Olivia said sadly, hanging onto the bars and looking down at the desk where his workshop had been arranged, "An' now that we're here ya hafta work even harder..."

A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Don't ye worry my dear Olivia," Hiram answered, "Ahm just glad yer okay, it's so nice to see you again. I've been so worried. Wylie told me you'd been stayin' with the Mousekewitz family after I disappeared, but for the past few days I didn't hear a thing because they've been keeping Wylie in here to be a slave."

"It was brave what you two kids did," Wylie spoke up, sitting and resting against a rock from the rubble, "It almost worked too, if it hadn't been for Waul and Ratigan coming to check on us at that exact moment. You two handled yourselves well."

"You think so Wylie?" asked Fievel.

"It was violent, yes, but I think it needed to be," Wylie said.

"I missed with my arrow," Fievel said in disappointment.

"Don't matter. You think I've hit the mark with my gun every time I shot it?"

Fievel smiled a little, and then looked over at Olivia, who hung her head low between the bars.

"Cheer up, my little Olivia," Hiram said, "Tell me all that's happened to you. Tell me what they tried to do to you."

Olivia sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, before beginning to tell about her and Fievel's secret trips to his raft on the river, how they'd always made her feel safe and relaxed, until Waul and Ratigan found out about it, and sent them down the rapids.

"Fievel was scared, so I steered us through the worst of it," she explained, "He don't like rushing water on account of it reminds him when he fell off the boat to America."

Fievel looked down in embarrassment, wondering if Hiram was going to be mad about that point.

"But when we went over a waterfall we lost the raft. Ah can't swim well, but Fievel pulled me outta the water. He saved me, daddy."

"Oh did he now?" Hiram folded his arms as he looked up at the cage.

"I guess I did," Fievel said shyly.

"Don't be shy Fievel," Olivia poked his side, "If'n it weren't for you I might not even be alive. Anyways, after that we had to camp out in the desert. On our way to the mine to save ye, we met some Indians, and a nice mouse named Running Coyote helped us most of the rest of the way."

"And then you made the rescue attempt with his weapons."

"Aye..." Olivia replied, sad that it had ended up like this.

Hiram looked to Fievel and gave a smile, "Ah hafta thank you laddie, for takin' such good care of me daughter through all of this. She ain't never been on her own before, except the first time I was kidnapped."

"Oh, y-you're welcome, Mr. Flaversham sir," he said respectfully.

"He's been good to me daddy," Olivia said, "Without him I don't know how I woulda coped. We saved each other's lives."

"I owe you a lot fer that, my boy. Olivia's all ah got left, and ta think she was in such danger," he rubbed his temples, "Don't go blamin' yourselves for anything. It was my own fault, ah didn't know such a deal was too good to be true when those kids fooled me into movin' here."